Program for October 11, 2009Madison Central High School Auditorium

Esprit de Corps (1985) Robert JagerRobert Jager is the recently retired professor of theory and composition at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville, Tennessee. Educated at the University of Michigan, he then entered the United States Navy and served as the staff arranger at the Armed Forces School of Music. A prolific, award-winning composer, he conducted and lectured in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan. Esprit de Corps was commissioned by the United States Marine Band, Colonel John Bourgeois, conductor. Although it displays contrasting moods, the work is consistently energetic and dramatic.

English Folk Song Suite (1923) Ralph Vaughan Williams I. March—“Seventeen Come Sunday” II. Intermezzo—“My Bonny Boy” III. March—“Folk Songs from Somerset”In the early 20th century a movement occurred in England, participants in which collected and transcribed traditional English folk songs—songs that were in danger of disappearing with the passing of the older generation. Vaughan Williams was among those who engaged in this process of preservation. In World War I he served consecutively as stretcher-bearer, artillery officer, and director of music; the last post doubtlessly leading him to write this and several other well-crafted band compositions. The first movement of this early work for military band contains Seventeen Come Sunday and Pretty Caroline, songs about two vibrant young women, and Dives and Lazarus, the story of the rich man and the beggar from the Gospel of Luke. The second movement begins with My Bonny, Bonny Boy, a song about a girl’s unrequited love, and Green Bushes, an account of a young man tempting a girl away from her “true love.” The third movement contains Blow Away the Morning Dew, High Germany, The Tree So High, and John Barleycorn.

On a Hymnsong of Philip Bliss (1989) David HolsingerA Missourian by birth and training, David Holsinger has written many works for band. A church musician for much of his career, he often alludes to biblical events in his compositions. Horatio Spafford wrote the words to “It is Well With My Soul” after losing his fortune in the Chicago fire; then his four daughters in 1873, passengers on the ill-fated ship the S. S. Ville de Havre. This tender setting of Philip Bliss’ 1876 setting of the text (a tune that he called Ville du Havre) captures and even amplifies the calming, reflective intent of Spafford’s poem, partially quoted here: When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul. (Refrain) It is well, with my soul, It is well, with my soul, It is well, it is well, with my soul.

His Honor March (1933) Henry FillmoreHenry Fillmore was a member of a music publishing family, but was an independent sort, and regularly ran afoul of his parents’ approval. Biographer Paul Bierley noted that “Fillmore’s zest for life is evident across all of his marches.” Fillmore dedicated this march to Cincinnati mayor Russell Wilson, a man he admired for his sense of humor as much as his leadership. Perhaps the composer’s extensive use of chromaticism in this march captures his honor’s light-hearted nature. The work was premiered at a concert series at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Clair de Lune, from Suite Bergamasque for solo piano (1888) Claude Debussyarr. (1995) by Tom WallaceClaude Debussy was the best known of the composers who employed the Impressionistic style. Attempting to create a sonic analog to the French Impressionist painters and Symbolist poets, Debussy and other composers intentionally blurred all aspects of their compositions, and featured indistinct subjects such as clouds, underwater scenes, and, in this case, the light of the moon.

The Wizard of Oz (1938) Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburgarr. (1995) by James BarnesNo movie has infused itself into American culture more than the MGM motion picture from which these themes are taken. Titles included are We’re Off to See the Wizard; Ding, Dong, the Witch is Dead; If I Only Had a Brain; The Merry Old Land of Oz; and Over the Rainbow.